Power operated fastener feeding and applying devices



2,973,021 POWER OPERATED FASTENER FEEDING AND APPLYING DEVICES Filed Aug. 12, 1957 Feb. 28, 1961 w. P. CROSSEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor M! Z z'am PCrossen Feb. 28, 1961 w, g oss 2,973,021

POWER OPERATED FASTENER FEEDING AND APPLYING DEVICES Filed Aug. 12, 1957 fizz/612101" William PCrossen 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 te grates POWER OPERATED FASTENER FEEDING AND APPLYING DEVICES Filed Aug. 12, 1957, Ser. No. 677,637

6 Claims. (Cl. 144-32) This invention relates to fastener applying devices and more particularly to automatically fed portable tools which are adapted for the rotary application of fasteners, such as nuts, screws and bolts, etc. This type of tool is frequently fed from a remotely located feeding mechanism similar to that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,785,400, granted March 19, 1957, in the names of Donald B. McIlvin et al., whereby fasteners are propelled to the driving tool one at a time through a flexible conduit by compressed air upon receipt of a signal from the tool. The fasteners are generally received at the tool by a nosepiece which includes jaws or other supporting members for positioning the fasteners in the path of a driver or bit which subsequently applies them to the work piece. The nosepiece, including the jaws or other supporting members, is usually substantially larger or bulkier than the bit or driver which actually applies the fastener to the work. Excessive bulk at the fastener applying end of the tool not only reduces visibility but often prevents the tool from beingused in areas of limited access, for example, where it is desired to insert a screw at the base of a narrow cup, channel, or similar article. This problem does not exist with fastener applying tools which are fed by hand, for example, when a fastener is manually placed in contact with a driver having a magnetized tip, since receiving or supporting jaws are not then necessary. However, when the tool is automatically fed, and receiving jaws are required, no prior method or tool known'to applicant has proven entirely satisfactory for removing the fastener from the jaws prior to its being applied.

It is an object of this invention to provide an automatic fastener applying tool having means for'receiving and supporting fasteners and which is adapted for applying the fasteners in confined areas.

It is another object of this invention to provide an automatic fastener applying tool having means for receiving and supporting fasteners in the path of a driver which tool is adapted for applying the fasteners in confined areas substantially smaller in size than the receiving and supporting means.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an automatic fastener applying tool having means for receiving and supporting a fastener in the path of a driver and automatic means for projecting the fastener from the receiving means while in contact with the driver.

In accordance with the features of this invention there is provided a fastener applying device comprising a tool having a driver with means at its tip or driving end for retaining a fastener in releasable engagement, fastener supporting jaws aligned with the driver, a first fluid motor for rotating the driver and a second fluid motor for effecting relative sliding movement between the driver and the jaws. Fasteners are fed to the jaws from a remotely located fluid-operated fastener feeding device. The second fluid motor is operable in timed sequence with the feeding device and the driver rotating motor to move ice I the jaws and the driver toward each other between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws wherein a fastener is fed to said jaws by the feeding device and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond the jaws. During the relative movement from the first to the second position the tip of the driver engages the fastener positioned in the jaws and extends it therefrom in order that the fastener may be rotatably applied to a work piece while in engagement with the driver and spaced from the jaws. Appropriate fluid control mechanism operates the first and. second fluid motors and actuates the feeding device in timed relationship whereby the above operations are carried out in sequential order. Means are also provided for limiting the speed at which the driver passes through the jaws in order that it may positively engage and retain the fastener at its driving end before it is applied to a work piece.

The above and other features of the invention including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of an automatic screw driver embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section of the feed or driving end of the screw driver taken in the direction of the arrow II in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical view of the tool shown in Fig. 1 and its pneumatic operating circuit as employed with an automatic fastener feeding mechanism.

The invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a pneumatically operated, automatically fed screw driver.

However, it may be employed in other types of rotary tools as well, for example, nut runners or bolt applying tools. The screw driver comprises a main body portion 10 of well-known construction and a nosepiece 1'2 slidable relatively thereto. A first fluid motor 14 in the body 10 operates to rotate a driver 16 which extends through the body into the nosepiece 12. Compressed air is supplied to the motor 14 through a line 18 by way of a fitting 20 threaded in the body. A sleeve 22 forming a portion of the nosepiece 12 is slidable telescopically over a cylindrical extension 24 of the body 10. Formed on the upper part of the nosepiece I2 is a boss 26 having a bore 28 into which fits a delivery nozzle 30 to which a flexible fastener delivery conduit 32 is secured. In the forward end of the nosepiece 12 and in communication with the delivery nozzle 30 is a fastener receiving chamber 34. Pivotally mounted by trunnions 36 on the nosepiece 12 and best seen in Fig. 2, is a pair of jaws 38 which are biased toward each other by leaf springs 40 secured to the nosepiece.

The driving end or bit 42 of the driver 16 is herein illustrated as adapted for the driving of hex-head, selftapping screws and is provided with a magnet 44 forming the bottom of a hexagonal recess 46. It will be noted that the bit could be made in the form of a magnetized Phillips head or conventional straight blade as well. Mounted on the body 10 by a clamp 48 is a second fluid motor 49 comprising a cylinder 5t and a piston 5-2 slidable therein. The piston is connected to the sleeve 22 of the nosepiece 12 by a piston rod 53 and a boss 54. Secured within the upper and lower ends of the cylinder 50, as seen in Fig. 1, are compression springs 56 and 58, respectively, serving as buffers at the ends of the stroke of the piston 52 when it is reciprocated within the cylinder 50 in a manner hereinafter to be described. Pressurized fluid, such as compressed air, is admitted to and exhausted from the upper end of the cylinder 50 through a line 60 connected to the cylinder by a fitting 3 62. Similarly, air is admitted to and exhausted from the lower end of the cylinder through a 'line 64 connected to the cylinder by a fitting 66. i v

Secured to the sleeve 22 of the nosepiece 12 is a casing 68 for a slidable valve 70. An air inlet passageway 72 and an outlet passageway 74 are formed in the housing 68 with the valve 70 normally maintained by a spring 76 in a position interrupting communication between the passageways '72 and 74. A line 78 is connected to the inlet passageway 72 by a fitting 80'. Similarly, a line 82 is connected to the outlet passageway 74 by a fitting 84. The valve 70 is moved against the force of the spring 76 to place the passageways 72 and 74 and thus the lines 78 and 82 in communication by a plunger 86 which in turn is moved by a trigger 33 pivotally mounted on the housing 68.

The screw driver operates in the following manner. With the driver and jaws in their Fig. l or first positions, a screw S is gripped between the jaws 33, either having been placed there manually or propelled thereto through the delivery conduit 32 from an automatic feeding device in a manner to be explained hereinafter. Air is supplied through the line 18 to the motor 14 to rotate the driver 16 and through the line 64 to the lower end of the cylinder 50 to move the piston 52 toward the upper end of the cylinder. Simultaneously, air is evacuated from the upper end of the cylinder 50 through the line 69. Movement of the piston 52 which is connected by the rod 53 to the sleeve 22 effects relative movement between the body and the nosepiece 12, the sleeve 22 telescoping over the cylindrical body extension 24. Whether the nosepiece 12 moves toward the body 19, or vice verse, is dependent upon which part is held stationary, but is immaterial to the ultimate re sult which is for the rotating bit 42 to engage the screw S. Upon engagement the screw is found by the recess 46 and is held therein by the magnet 44. In the event that the screws are not ferromagnetic, the sides of the recess 46 may be tapered or provided with spring detents to grip the screw without the use of a magnet. Continued relative movement of the body and the nosepiece 12 causes the rotating bit 42 with the screw attached to project through and beyond the jaws, as seen in Fig. 2. In this second position the screw may now be applied in confined areas such as the narrow cup or channel C. The work piece is limited in size only by the diameter of the bit 42 and the amount of extension of the bit from the jaws 38. By appropriate design of the relative sizes of the component parts of the tools, such as the lengths of the cylinder 50, the sleeve 22 and the driver 16, etc., the amount of screw extension may be increased.

Referring to Fig. 3, the means for directing air to and from the screw driver and its delivery or feeding device D will now be described. The feeding device D is of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned McIlvin et al. patent and is not herein described in detail. A line 90, connected to a source of compressed air, supplies operating air to the feeding device D through a line 92 and to the screw driver through the line 78. The line 82 communicates with the motor 14 by way of the line 18 and with the fastener delivery device D by way of a signal line 94.

The lines 82 and 90 and the lines 60 and 64 leading from the cylinder 50 communicate with a control valve 96 comprising a valve casing 98 and a multi-head piston 100 slidable therein. interposed in the line 60 between the cylinder 50 and the control valve 96 is a check valve 102 which retards the fiow of air out of the cylinder 50.

The piston 100 is normally maintained in the position in Fig. 3 by a spring 106 whereby the pressurized line 90 is in communication with the line 60, pressurizing the upper end of the cylinder 59 with the piston 52 occupying the position as shown. At this time the lower end i of the cylinder 50 is at atmospheric pressure, the line 64 being in communication with a port 108 in the valve 96 while a second port 110 in the valve is blocked by the middle head of the piston 100.

When the screw driver trigger S8 is squeezed it displaces the valve 70 placing the lines 78 and 82 in communication whereupon the line 82 becomes pressurized. Air passes from the 'line 82 to the first motor 14 through the line 18, causing it to rotate the driver 16 and also to the delivery device D through the signal line 94, activating it to propel a screw through the delivery conduit 32 by compressed air upon subsequent depressurization of the signal line 94 all in a known manner. The pressurized air in the line 82 displaces the piston in the valve 96 to be displaced downwardly from its position shown in Fig. 3, against the force of the spring 106. Movement of the piston 100 depressurizes the line 60 by placing it in communication with the port leading to atmosphere and pressurizes the line 64 by placing it in communication with the line 9i), the port 108 becoming blocked. As the line 64 admits air to the lower end of the cylinder 50, the piston 52 moves upward causing the nosepiece 12 to be telescoped toward the body 10 of the screw driver.

In order to permit the bit 42 to find the screw S and seat it in the recess 46, the rate of movement of the piston 52 of the second fluid motor 49, and hence the nosepiece 12, is restricted by the check valve 102 partially impeding the flow of air from the cylinder 50 through the line 60.

When the screw has been driven in the manner above described, the trigger 88 is released, and communication between the lines 78 and 82 is interrupted by the valve 70. The compressed air remaining within the line 82 passes to atmosphere through the line 18 and the motor 14-. The spring 106 then returns the piston 100 to the position shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the line 64 and hence the lower end of the cylinder 50 become depressurized and the upper end of the cylinder 50 becomes pressurized since the line 60 is then in communication with the line 90. The resulting movement of the piston 52 causes the body 10 and the nosepiece 12 to assume the first position as shown in Fig. l with the bit 42 retracted from the jaws 38 and receiving chamber 34. This return movement obviously may also be accomplished by a spring or like means. Simultaneously, with the line 82 becoming depressurized, the signal line 94 becomes depressurized causing the feeding device D to propel the next screw through the delivery conduit 32 to the screw driver whereupon the driving cycle may be repeated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A fastener applying device having a main body portion, a driver extending from said body portion, means at the extending tip of said driver for releasably retaining a fastener in engagement therewith, a fastener receiving nosepiece, jaws in said nosepiece aligned with said driver and means for feeding fasteners to said jaws, characterized by the provision of means for effecting relative movement between the nosepiece and the body portion between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws to enable the jaws to receive a fastener from the feeding means and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond the jaws to remove the fastener therefrom, whereby the fastener may be applied to a work piece while in engagement with the driver and spaced from the jaws without said jaws ever contacting the work piece.

2. A fastener app-lying device having a driver with means at its driving end for retaining a fastener in releasable engagement thcrewith, fastener supporting jaws aligned with said driver, a first motor for rotating said driver, a second motor for effecting relative movement between the driver and the jaws between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws to enable said jaws to receive a fastener and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond the jaws to remove the fastener therefrom, and means for operating said first and second motors in predetermined timed sequence, whereby the fastener may be rotatably applied to a work piece while in engagement with the driver and spaced from the jaws.

3. A fastener applying device having a driver with means at its driving end for retaining a fastener in releasable engagement therewith, fastener supporting jaws aligned with said driver, means for feeding fasteners to said jaws, a first motor for rotating said driver, a second motor for effecting relative movement between said driver and said jaws between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond the jaws to remove the fastener therefrom, and means for operating said first and second motors and said feeding means in predetermined timed sequence whereby the fastener may be fed to said jaws and removed therefrom before being applied to a work piece.

4. A fastener applying device having a driver with means at its driving end for retaining a fastener in releasable engagement therewith, fastener supporting jaws aligned with said driver, means for feeding fasteners to said jaws, a first motor for rotating said driver, a second motor for effecting relative movement between said driver and jaws between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond said jaws whereby a fastener may be removed from said jaws by said retaining means before being applied to a work piece, and control means for actuating said fastener feeding means to feed a fastener to the jaws when the jaws and the driver are in said first position.

5. A fastener applying device having a driver with means at its driving end for retaining a fastener in releasable engagement therewith, fastener supporting jaws aligned with said driver, fluid operated means for feeding fasteners to said jaws, a first fluid motor for rotating said driver, a second fluid motor for effecting relative movement between said driver and said jaws between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond the jaws whereby a fastener may be removed from said jaws by said retaining means before being applied to a work piece, and means including a fluid control valve for operating said first and second motors simultaneously and for actuating said feeding means to feed a fastener to the jaws when said jaws and driver are in said first position.

6. A fastener applying device having a driver with means at its driving end for retaining a fastener in releasable engagement therewith, fastener supporting jaws aligned with said driver, fluid operated means for feeding fasteners to said jaws, a first fluid motor for rotating said driver, a second fluid motor for effecting relative movement between said driver and said jaws between a first position with the driver withdrawn from the jaws and a second position with the driver extending through and beyond the jaws whereby a fastener may be removed from said jaws by said retaining means before being applied to a work piece, means including a fluid control valve for operating said first and second motors simultaneously and for actuating said feeding means to feed a fastener to the jaws when said jaws and driver are in said first position, and means for limiting the speed at which said driver passes through said jaws whereby the positioned fastener may be engaged and retained on the driving end of said driver before being applied to a work piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 926,658 Keith et al. June 29, 1909 2,260,055 Reardon Oct. 21, 1941 2,534,140 Moore Dec. 12, 1950 2,671,484 Clark Mar. 9, 1954 2,684,698 Shaif July 27, 1954 2,740,438 Austin Apr. 3, 1956 2,754,860 Moore et al. July 17, 1956 2,762,403 Ferm et al. Sept. 11, 1956 2,770,269 Austin Nov. 13, 1956 2,773,526 Eslick Dec. 11, 1956 2,780,950 Province Feb. 12, 1957 2,794,462 Frykman June 4, 1957 2,887,920 Austin May 26, 1959 

